The Actors’ Guild of Nigeria (AGN) has suspended Nollywood actress, Halima Abubakar indefinitely following an extensive investigation. AGN recently had its say via a press statement, and fans have been reacting.
According to the Guild, their investigation revealed that Halima Abubakar is the one behind all the slandering information of their members, associates and patrons posted online
AGN added that Halima is especially responsible for news of extramarital affairs linked with highly placed individuals in society, and she is not permitted to film or participate in any movies until her punishment is decided.
Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in The New York Times. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there is no clear or agreed-upon definition for the term, which has made it a subject to several controversies.
The origin of the term “Nollywood” remains unclear; Jonathan Haynes traced the earliest usage of the word to a 2002 article by Matt Steinglass in the New York Times, where it was used to describe Nigerian cinema.
Charles Igwe noted that Norimitsu Onishi also used the name in a September 2002 article he wrote for the New York Times. The term continues to be used in the media to refer to the Nigerian film industry, with its definition later assumed to be a portmanteau of the words “Nigeria” and “Hollywood”, the American major film hub.
Film-making in Nigeria is divided largely along regional, and marginally ethnic and religious lines. Thus, there are distinct film industries – each seeking to portray the concern of the particular section and ethnicity it represents. However, there is the English-language film industry which is a melting pot for filmmaking and filmmakers from most of the regional industries.